Word Finder - mimicry

definition

The act or ability to simulate the appearance of someone or something else.

example

They say that mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery, but I still think I'm being mocked when he acts just like me.

A few cases of mimicry have been recorded in birds.

A few possible cases of aggressive mimicry are enumerated in the following summary of some of the recorded cases of mimicry in different classes of the animal kingdom; but the phenomenon is of comparatively rare occurrence, and the supposed instances may be susceptible of other interpretations, excluding them altogether from mimicry, or bringing them under the Batesian or Miillerian interpretation of the phenomenon.

But if it be discovered, as is possible, that the drone-fly is also inedible, the mimicry must be ascribed to the Mullerian category, and the reason for it becomes less evident.

The results of this experiment with the baboon and of those with the birds are precisely what would be expected if the theory of mimicry is true.

The term mimicry has also been applied to resemblances of a different kind from the two enumerated above - resemblances, that is to say, by which predaceous species are supposed to be enabled to approach or mix without detection with animals they prey upon or victimize in other ways.

Some observations, however, of Guy Marshall on the inedibility of certain birds suggest that the resemblance between cuckoos a'nd hawks on the one hand and cuckoos and drongos on the other may be susceptible of another explanation in full agreement with the theory of mimicry as propounded by Bates.

One of the most perfect cases of mimicry in birds is presented by a Madagascar thrush or babbler (Tylas eduardi), which resembles feather for feather a shrike (Xenopirostris polleni), from the same island.

There seem to be no reasons for doubting that these are cases of genuine protective mimicry.

Apparently the only instances of mimicry known amongst reptiles occur amongst snakes; and in all the cases quoted by Wallace harmless snakes mimic venomous species.

If the view that the sole is protected by the blackness of the pectoral fin resembling the blackness of the dorsal fin of the weever, be correct, these fishes furnish an instance of Batesian mimicry.

If so, the likeness must be regarded as an instance of Miillerian mimicry.

It is amongst Arthropods, however - and especially amongst insects - that mimicry, both Batesian and Miillerian, occurs in greatest profusion and perfection.

Some cases of genuine mimicry, however, are known in the order.

This may, however, be an instance of Miillerian rather than of Batesian mimicry, the beetle being itself inedible; for Shelford has stated his conviction that the Bornean representatives of the sub-family (Clytinae), to which Clytus arietis belongs, are all highly distasteful and are warningly coloured, as are members of this sub-family from other parts of the world.

Hence it is probable that this case of mimicry is purely of a protective and not of an aggressive nature and serves to save the flies from destruction by insectivorous enemies.

Numerous other cases of mimicry between Diptera and Hymenoptera might be cited.

The study of this intricate case is not yet completed and it is at present unknown whether it is an instance of Batesian or Mullerian mimicry.

Spiders furnish numerous instances of mimicry.

Hence it may be inferred that the insects which imitate ants profit in the same way that spiders do from this form of mimicry.

Synaposemasy is Mullerian mimicry.

Pseudaposemasy is Batesian mimicry.

In other words the insects entering into the combination may furnish instances of Batesian and of Mullerian mimicry.

The mimicry of these insects therefore is synaposematic; but some, at all events, of the flies like the Bombylid Exoprosopa umbrosa, probably form pseudaposematic elements in the group. Into another category Hymenoptera enter not as models but as mimics, the models being inedible Malacodermatous beetles mostly belonging to the genus Lycus and characterized by orange coloration set off by a large black patch upon the posterior end of the elytra and a smaller black spot upon the thorax.

An example of the latter occurs in Singapore where the vicious red spinning-ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) is mimicked by the larva of a Noctuid moth and by spiders belonging to two distinct families, namely, Saltiicus plataleoides (Salticidae) and Amyciaea forticeps (Thomisidae), there being no reason to suppose that either the moth larva or the spiders are protected forms. Mimetic aggregations of species similar to those mentioned above have been found in other countries; but the instances cited are sufficient to show how widespread are the influences of mimicry and how profoundly it has modified the insect fauna of various parts of the world.

Garrick brought to the meetings his inexhaustible pleasantry, his incomparable mimicry, and his consummate knowledge of stage effect.

Mimicry We are all good mimicry We are all good mimics; otherwise accents wouldn't exist at all.

Significantly, postcolonial theorists have seen mimicry as bordering on mockery, ' since it can appear to parody whatever it mimics.

These antibodies will be used in the study of molecular mimicry in the context of autoimmune uveitis.

We are testing the hypothesis that all Maculinea and Microdon species employ chemical mimicry to a varying degree.

However, more recently analyzed data have indicated that the viceroy is also unpalatable and thus the pair is an example of Müllerian mimicry.

He's also a highly entertaining companion, with a gift for accurate mimicry which can make you ache with laughter.

There is strong indirect, and some direct, evidence that this is achieved through chemical mimicry.

Others think that motor mimicry is primitive empathy and if we could explain imitation we would be on the way to explaining empathy.

Through its witty mimicry, Thank You also acts as a parody of both monumental statuary and decorative ' corporate ' sculpture.

The phenomena, known as "protective resemblance," or similarity to inanimate objects or vegetation, and the kindred phenomenon of "mimicry," or beneficial likeness to certain protected species of animals, are common in the group. In these particulars, considered in their entirety, spiders show a marked contrast to other Arachnida, such as the scorpions, pedipalps, book-scorpions and so-called harvest spiders, which by comparison are remarkably uniform, within the limits of the orders, in structure, habits and other respects.

It has been claimed that the resemblance between some of the Oriental tree-shrews of the genus Tupaia and squirrels comes under the category of aggressive mimicry, the tupaias being enabled by their likeness to approach and pounce upon small birds or other animals which, mistaking them for the vegetable-feeding squirrels, make no effort to get out of the way.

The first is the occurrence of mimicry only in the female sex.

It shows how much the gift of writing is, in the early stages of its development, the gift of mimicry.

To others they are symbolic of cunningness, mimicry or mischievousness.

Cullen's eldest son Robert became a Scottish judge in 1796 under the title of Lord Cullen, and was known for his powers of mimicry.

Since belief in the adequacy of the two theories, above outlined, to account for the facts they profess to explain, depends ultimately upon the testimony that can be brought forward of the usefulness of warning characters, of the deception of mimicry and of the capacity for learning by experience possessed by enemies, it is necessary to give some of the evidence that has been accumulated on these points.

This phenomenon is termed " aggressive mimicry " as opposed to the Batesian and Mullerian phenomena, which are termed " protective mimicry."

If this be the case the two species probably furnish an instance of true Mullerian mimicry.

The same explanation no doubt applies to the mimicry, both in Borneo and South Africa, of hairy bees of the family Xylocopidae by Asilid flies of the genus Hyperechia, and also to other cases of mimicry of Hymenoptera as well as of inedible beetles of the family Lycidae by Diptera.

Another instance of mimicry affecting the larval form is supplied by the moth Endromis versicolor, the caterpillars of which resemble the inedible larvae of saw-flies.

Bates offered no satisfactory explanation of the resemblance between these two genera and others of the same protected sub-families; but he did not hesitate to ascribe the resemblance to them presented by the Pierine, Dismorphia (Leptalis) orise, to mimicry, believing Dismorphia to be unprotected and noting that it departed widely in the matter of coloration from typical members of the sub-family to which it belongs.

Since many of the insects of the order Hemiptera are distasteful, the mimicry of the bug (Megapetus) is in this case probably Mullerian or synaposematic; the grasshopper (Myrmecophana), on the other hand, is probably edible and the mimicry is Batesian or pseudaposematic. This is a simple case consisting of a small number of component species.

The difference between the two phenomena is essential and evident; but without experimental information as to palatability it is impossible to know with certainty to which of the two a particular case of mimicry is to be assigned.

Analogous cases are supplied by the mimicry that exists between some of the orioles (Mimeta) and the friar-birds (Philemon or Tropidorhynchus) of the Austro-Malayan Islands.

Considering, however, the numbers of venomous and innocuous snakes that occur in most tropical countries, it might be supposed that mimicry in this order of reptiles would be of commoner occurrence than appears to be the case.